Surviving Reality
by ChestnutCritter
Summary: Just because you are born into the Naruto world with the foreknowledge of upcoming disaster, does not mean you are going to play the role of hero and change it for the better. But it is a little hard to avoid the plot when you are reborn as Sakura Haruno.
1. Chapter 1:Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**~o0o~**

Dreams are so vague. Sometimes they feel as real as the actual world and sometimes do not make any sense at all. Is there some hidden meaning behind them? It's so confusing sometimes that one can't tell.

Little Sakura was dealing with a similar issue. Ever since she turned four, she was having very uncanny dreams. They were mainly focused on a brunette lady. Sometimes she would also see a girl with the same hair and eye color as her.

It took her a couple of months to realize that the girl with pink hair and emerald eyes in her dreams was herself. Maybe an older version of her. She also saw a blonde and blue-eyed guy with whiskers on both of his cheeks. Another guy having onyx eyes and jet black hair which appear to be in the shape of feathers. More like a duck butt. And lastly a man with gravity-defying hairs with a mask on his face.

Those three guys and that lady were quite constant in her dreams.

_''Has she ever met them?"_ She thought, walking towards the park to meet Ino. It was her first time going to the park on her own. Her mother always accompanies her on her playdates. But today Sakura insisted to go alone. She knows the way. She won't be lost.

_"Why am I having such dreams? Am I being haunted by those people's spirits?"_ She thought with horror. She looked back to the path to her home. May be she should have let her mother accompany her after all.

Sakura musing was shortly interrupted by a soft oof sound. Her gaze fell upon a little boy who was rubbing the familiar back of duck butt hair.

"Oh, I bumped into somebody," She didn't realize she spoke that out loud.

"Yeah, sharp observation skills," The duck butt hair guy said, giving her an angry look. He picked himself off the ground and dusted his clothes.

Ignoring his disdain, she asked, "Ummm sorry I wasn't focusing on the path. Are you hurt?"

"No!" He said sharply. "Also, you are supposed to keep your head in the same direction in which you are walking. Not the opposite! And stop staring at me like that! That's creepy!" With that said, he walked away.

"Huh? Did he just call me creepy?" She thought while still staring at his retreating figure. "Where have I seen that mop of hair again?"

Sakura shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. Ino is waiting for her in the park. She must reach on time or else Ino would get mad. It's not easy to cool down her friend once she gets mad.

** ~o0o~**

Sakura managed to reach the park without getting lost. It was a decent park in the middle of the Konoha District. It was big, surrounded by hashirama's tress. There were swings, sandpit, picnic benches all around the park. There was also a flower garden having all different kinds of flowers. That was their meeting place.

There were civilian kids playing tag. Clan's kids were playing ninja and throwing fake shurikens at each other. Ino was waiting for Sakura at their usual spot. Ino waved her hand at Sakura when she came into sight. Sakura ran the remaining distance between the two while waving back at her.

"Hey forehead, why are you late?" Ino asked.

"Hi pig and sorry, I bumped into somebody on my way," Sakura said sheepishly, one hand scratching the back of her head.

"Huh? How? Were you not looking at the path," Ino asked.

At her comment, Sakura flushed and averted her gaze from Ino. Noticing Sakura's sudden reaction Ino giggled.

"Oh you did," Ino said giggling even more.

"It was an accident!" Sakura said in a defensive tone.

"Let's make flowers crown. You can tell me about your little accident while we do that," Ino said, already walking towards the center of the garden, where she had seen some pretty daisies. Sakura nodded at her and followed her friend.

After twenty minutes, both girls sat beside each other wearing their flower crown on their respective heads. Sakura had explained her little accident. Ino had listened patiently.

"It was obviously your fault. You should look ahead while walking," She said, once Sakura was done explaining.

"I know," Sakura said, staring at her feet.

"Now don't make that face. Let's ride on some swings," She said. Pulling Sakura to her feet, she dragged her towards the swings.

"Alright, alright. Just stop dragging me," Sakura said, smiling at her friend.

**~o0o~**

Later that evening, having dinner with her family, she couldn't help herself from recalling the dreams. She was so indulged in her thought that she didn't notice the worried glances her parents were throwing at her.

Although Sakura is a quiet child, she loves to talk to her parents while having a meal. Telling them about her day, what games she played with Ino, which book she read etc. Yes, four-year-old Sakura has mastered reading and writing skills. She is a bright child. Her parents were proud of her.

But today, seeing her daughter silently eating dinner was making her mother worried. So she asked in a gentle tone, "Sakura honey, Is something wrong? How was your playdate with Ino-chan?"

Finally stopping her train of thoughts, she glanced up from her plate to her parents. "Nothing wrong mom. Just a little tired and it went fine," Sakura replied.

Sakura realized her mom didn't buy it. But she did not explain further. The rest of the dinner went without any questioning. After that, she went to get some sleep. The moment she laid her head on her pillow, she fell asleep.

**~o0o~**

Sakura found herself surrounded by thick tall trees. The light was barely reaching the forest floor. There was no trace of civilization. The only sound was coming from the insects and a nearby river.

"Where am I?" She thought.

She turned around and found two unconscious bodies behind her.

Her breath caught in her throat. Lying right in front of her, were those two guys from her dream!

"Are they dead? What is going on?" She thought. She extended her hand to check for their breath when she finally noticed a difference. It wasn't small or soft anymore. Her hand was big and had lots of cut marks. A soft breeze blew her hair in front of her face. They were not supposed to be that long. She remembered having short hair!

A rustling sound came from the bushes behind her. She turned around to see three figures emerging from it. They were dressed as shinobi. But she couldn't recognize the symbol on their headband. She just knew it wasn't the Konoha symbol. These shinobi were affiliated with some other hidden village. And that fact alone meant danger!

Before she could scream for help one of them ran towards her fast and stabbed her right in her throat. There was so much blood. She raised her hands to cover the cut in an attempt to stop bleeding but it wasn't working. Her hands and clothes were all stained in red. She was losing so much blood. At this rate, she would die. Black spots appeared in her vision. She saw them walking towards the two guys before she lost consciousness and fade into darkness.

** ~o0o~**

Sakura woke up with a gasp. Her hands went up to her throat. But to her surprise, there was no cut, no blood. Calming a little, she took into her surroundings. She was back in her room, on her bed. She was safe. She was not dying in some forest. She reached towards the nightstand, where she had placed the glass of water. She took a sip from it when everything suddenly clicked into place. Sakura Haruno finally caught a firm grip on the dreams and thoughts that had previously flown out of her reach.

She realized, quite calmly, the obvious.

It wasn't so much a divine revelation as much as it was just a simple fact that allowed everything to make sense.

**"Oh. I am Sakura Haruno."**, she thought while taking another sip of water from the glass.

By the time she had placed the glass gently down on the nightstand, she had managed to comprehend what that epiphany actually meant for her.

**"Well, fuck..."**

**~o0o~**

**Review, please!**


	2. Chapter 2 : Unexpected Customers

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**~o0o~**

I was almost positive that I was dreaming or going insane.

First of all, my head was spinning and it was hard to think straight. Even the simplest thoughts were draining.

Secondly, I had no idea how the fuck I got into this situation or more specifically this body. Seriously? Of all the characters of this series, I end up in the one that had no fancy bloodline or clan backup to protect her. I was already very much screwed.

After my mental breakdown last night, I was not able to sleep at all. How can anyone sleep anyway if they find themselves in this sort of situation? All those memories came into my mind all of a sudden. It was a mess.

I'd heard you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their hands. But at the moment, as I sat on my bed staring at mine, all the inspection gave me was more questions. More were raised as I crossed the room and looked myself into the mirror.

The eyes that looked back at me were glowing like big emerald stones in the forest of pink. Pink hair, pink lashes, pink eyebrows. My face was chubby. I wasn't very tall. My skin was a little sunburned thank's to the Konoha's summer. There was no birthmark on my body.

I sighed again at my reflection. If I was going to have an identity crisis then I might as well get a bath and grab something to eat. I feel empty.

**~o0o~**

Kizashi Haruno and Mebuki Haruno came from civilian backgrounds.

Kizashi worked as a merchant. He was often away from home trading goods. When he got back home, he always used to spend time with his family. He also brought different kinds of storybooks for his precious daughter.

His daughter enjoys reading books than going out and playing with children her age. He does not mind his daughter's poor social skills. She will grow out of shyness when she will join the school. She will make many friends there. She already has Ino-chan! Little did he know, his daughter has no such plans on being social.

Mebuki Haruno runs a bakery in the Konoha main market area. Her desserts are quite popular among ninja and civilian both. When Sakura was young, she used to accompany her mother to bakery daily. But now that she has grown a little older, she insists on staying at home. It's not that bad. Mebuki can focus on her work efficiently. But she can't let her daughter feel lonely.

That's why she used to drag Sakura for playdates with her friend's daughter Ino-chan. It took a little time for both of them to warm up to each other. But now they are inseparable. They meet every other day. They hang out at each other's place or sometimes at the park. Mebuki knows Ino-chan will not let her daughter feel lonely.

**~o0o~**

It was a peaceful winter morning in Konoha. It was quite a bright day for a winter morning as the sun could still light up the morning even though it was still hidden among the clouds. The snow was falling lightly. Konoha never experiences heavy snowfall like Kirigakure and Iwagakure. But it is enough to build a one feet tall snowman or have a snowball fight. The snow would melt by noon. So, children had left their homes in the early morning to play in the snow

Unlike those children, I had better things to do than play in the snow. Like plan for the future. But I was dragged by my mom to the bakery. Father was away for work so, I couldn't stay at home alone. I had made sure to grab my drawing book crayons and my doodling notebook in which I write about all the things that I can recall about the Naruto series. I had written all that in English.

We arrived at the bakery. It was of modest size. There were two entrances. One at the front, that opened into the market square and one at the back, that opened into the alley. The upper part of the front door was made up of glass and the lower part with wood. There were two large windowpanes on either side of the main door. A generous amount of sunlight entered through them. We had arranged flower pots on both sides of the door.

The front room had tables, chairs, and a counter. The walls were decorated with pictures of my mother's special desserts. Behind the counter, there was a gate that opened into the kitchen, where all the recipes were prepared.

I helped my mother open the bakery. We arranged tables and chairs properly. I dusted the countertop and my mother swept the floor. I watered the plant outside the bakery. She put a mini vase containing fresh flowers on each table. Later her waitress, Shizuka, and co-baker Kenji arrived.

Once the bakery was set up, Customers started filling in. Soon the bakery was hustling and bustling. My mother got busy attending to her customers. She had arranged a personal seat for me behind the counter where I usually sit and mind my own business. The seat was tall enough to not hide me behind the counter. It was easy for my mother to keep an eye on me. Also, it helped me see other people on the other side of the counter.

I walked to the assigned seat behind the counter, opened my drawing book, scattered my crayons around the table. I looked at my mother, she was busy giving instructions to the baker. I brought out my doodling notebook and started reading, adding points here and there.

It was easy for me to locate myself in the timeline because of my age. I will turn five in three months. I have roughly three years before the Uchiha Massacre and seven years before graduation. Oh, stupid graduation, it was because of that I was not able to finish the whole Shippuden series before my death. I was busy studying for my graduation exam. My friends used to tell me how Sasuke killed Orochimaru and Deidara, Zombie duo killed Asuma, etc. Now I regret not abandoning my studies and watching the whole series. My knowledge of future events is limited. I never watched the Shippuden in detail. I had just watched the main battles between the main characters, skipping the rest of the episodes. The last battle that I had watched was between Pein and Naruto.

I shuddered as I recalled the havoc it had caused. The whole village was wiped out. Sakura survived the attack but what were the chances that I would also survive it this time? Another thought entered my mind, what if the events didn't happen in sequence. What if Pein attacked before?

I could feel a headache coming. I groan while clutching my head in my hands. All these thoughts were draining. I closed the doodle notebook. I want an Aomori now. I went inside the kitchen and asked Kenji to give me one.

"Here you go Sakura-chan," Kenji said, smiling at me and giving me an Aomori. Aomori is an apple pie. These apple pie are quite different from my previous world. A whole apple is used which is sweetened by syrup and surrounded by a flaky pie crust and is served warm. Overall, it was delicious.

"Thankyou Kenji-san," I smiled back a little and went back to my seat.

_"Why am I even thinking so far in the future? I have time. The only major event that will happen shortly is the Uchiha Massacre and I have nothing to do with it,"_ I relaxed at that thought, taking another bite of my dessert.

It had been six months since my first encounter with Sasuke. I had avoided him and his clan members since then. I had been doing a good job so far. Praising myself at my accomplishment, I took another bite of Aomori when the doorbell jingled. I looked towards the door and choked.

Sasuke along with his mother and elder brother entered our bakery. I immediately jumped off my seat and ducked under the counter. I was still choking. My mother gave me a concerned look.

"Shizuka! Get Sakura a glass of water," She ordered, bending down and patting my back gently.

A glass filled with water was immediately brought near my mouth and I drank it greedily.

"Are you okay?" Mother asked me.

"Hai Kaa-san," I replied, taking another large sip of water.

"Ohayou, Mebuki-san," Mikoto greeted politely with a smile on her face.

"Ohayou, Mikoto-san," Mebuki stood up straight and greeted her back.

More pleasantries were exchanged between my mother and her Uchiha customers. They were busy. This was the right moment to sneak out from the back door. No one would notice!

I tiptoed towards the kitchen door. Just another step and I would be in the safe zone. I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door silently.

"Who is that little girl behind you Mebuki-san?"

I jumped at that voice, _"Shit! Busted!"_

**~o0o~**

Sakura's attempt to sneak out of the bakery was failed. "Stupid ninja and their stupid sensing ability! It was a foolish idea to sneak past a trained ninja anyway," she thought, turning around to face them.

"Oh, she is Sakura, my daughter," Mebuki responded, motioning Sakura with her hand to come near her.

Sakura walked towards her and stood behind her. _"Just kill me already. I don't want to face them," s_he thought.

"Don't be shy Sakura, greet them," Mebuki misunderstood her hesitation to meet as shyness and nudged her to go on the other side of the counter.

Sakura took a deep breath and walked towards the other side of the counter, ignoring Sasuke's wide-eyed looked and bowed deep, bangs hiding her face, she greeted in a polite tone, "Ohayou Uchiha-san, I am Sakura Haruno. Welcome to our bakery."

"No need to be so formal, Sakura-chan. I am Mikoto Uchiha," Mikoto said, smiling down at Sakura. "Mebuki-san, your daughter is so adorable," she further added, gushing over her.

Mebuki smiled warmly at Sakura, "Indeed Mikoto-san." But this moment lasted for a few seconds.

"Hey, aren't you that creepy girl?"

Sakura twitched at that comment but didn't lift her head to see who said that. She already knew. Sakura slowly straightened her back to see Mikoto gasping at her son's rude comment and Itachi smacking him on the head lightly.

"That's not how you compliment girls ototo," Itachi scolded his little brother, mischief visible in his eyes. Sakura smiled internally at Sasuke's painful expression. _"Bless your_ _soul Itachi. No doubt you were my favorite Uchiha,"_ she thought.

"Forgive my little brother Sakura-san. Sasuke, apologize to her," said Itachi, nudging his brother in her direction.

"But Nii-san I-"

"Do it" Mikoto's stern voice left no room for argument. Oh boy, she didn't seem to be pleased with Sasuke's behavior. He was in trouble.

Sasuke recognized his mother's strict tone. He hurried towards Sakura and apologized, " I am sorry Sakura-san." He also bowed a little.

"It's alright Sasuke-san"

"Good! Now, let's order our sweets," Mikoto said in a cheerful voice, totally forgetting about her anger.

Sakura gaped at how fast Mikoto's mood changed. She made a mental note to never make her angry. Sasuke relaxed at his mother's cheerful mood. Itachi smiled at him.

Mebuki took their orders. Wagashi for Mikoto, Daifuku for Sasuke and Dango for Itachi. She asked Sakura to get those from the kitchen. Sakura nodded and came back after a few minutes, carrying daifuku, wagashi, and Dango. She started packing them and her mother was talking to Mikoto while making their bill.

Sasuke was glaring at Sakura. She ignored him, focusing her attention on packing the desserts.

"Why did you jump off your seat when you saw us entering?"

Sakura tensed at the voice from behind her.

"No I didn't Itachi-san," she tried to respond calmly.

"I didn't give you my name yet. Neither my mother did," He said, observing Sakura with critical eyes now.

_"Dammit! I slipped,"_ she cursed at her mistake. Thinking immediately, she supplied, "You are quite famous."

"Not among your age group," he replied smartly.

"Hn," She gave the packages to Itachi and left the conversation at that.

Before Itachi could say anything Sasuke came up to him. "Let's go nii-san. Mom has paid," said Sasuke while dragging his brother towards the door.

"Let's continue this later Sakura-san," Itachi said softly for only her to hear. He joined his mother.

The Uchihas left the bakery shortly, promising to visit again. Sakura wished to never see them again. It was a close call. She almost slipped in front of Itachi Uchiha no less. He will probably visit her again. Sakura screamed internally.

"What am I going to do now..."

**~o0o~**

**Review, please! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3 : Hyuga Nanny

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**~o0o~**

At age six, Itachi enrolled in the academy, where he consistently scored the highest in each subject and quickly learned any skill taught to him, resulting in him being praised as the best of his generation. After four months, his teachers unanimously agreed to let him take the graduation exam early due to Itachi being more than advanced enough for the genin-level, which he passed later that month.

Besides being a good ninja, he was also a good son. In his free time, he always helped his mother. In return, his mother rewarded him with his favorite sweet. On one such day, Itachi was accompanying his mother and brother to collect his reward. When he was about to open the bakery door for them, a flash of pink was caught in his pink flash later turned out to be the bakery owner's daughter, Sakura. Itachi had not seen anyone with pink hair in his life. It was a rare sight. Sakura's mother encouraged her to greet them. But Sakura was hesitating.

Itachi was confused about her odd behavior. It did look a little suspicious to him when she ducked under the counter the moment they entered. Was she hiding from them? What if she was a spy disguising as a kid? The thought made him tense. If she was then he needed to know who sent her and what information she possessed. He was about to open his mouth but Sasuke beat him to that.

Sasuke's remark surprised Itachi. He didn't know his little brother had met her before. Usually, his brother shares everything with him but he never mentioned her. He would talk to Sasuke later. First, he had to probe Sakura. Itachi observed her body language for a moment, inspecting for any sign of ninja training. Her actions were completely speaking of civilian upbringing. Finding no hint outside, he tried to sense her chakra reserves. They were even less than his brother like any civilian kid should have.

After discovering nothing, Itachi sighed. He had to address her directly.

**~o0o~**

Itachi knew he was better than other children his age. The Uchiha genes were a bonus to his training. His Sharingan helped him in effortlessly learning new techniques from simple observation. He was highly proficient in all three main ninja skill sets and gained praise from allies and foes. Almost all fellow ninja knew of his achievements, making him quite popular among the ninja community. But Itachi didn't expect himself to be popular among civilian children as well. It came as a surprise to him when Sakura justified herself for knowing his name because of his fame. He used to think maybe only children among his clan knows him. But to be recognized by some kid outside of clan on the first meeting was a surprise. Many kids may have heard of his name but not many had seen his face. For Sakura to recognize him so effortlessly was a little nerve-wracking.

A couple of days after that incident, when Itachi came back from his mission, he dragged Sasuke outside. Sasuke was bubbling with happiness with the idea of training with his brother. He guided Sasuke towards the Naka River. Once Itachi was sure they were out of earshot, he asked Sasuke to tell him about his first meeting with Sakura.

"What? Didn't you bring me here for training Nii-san?" Sasuke asked grumpily, traces of happiness leaving from his face.

"This is a training ototo. A training to check your memory" replied Itachi smartly. "I know you got a sharp memory."

Sasuke beamed at the praise. He then told his brother how Sakura bumped into him and made him fall. How she kept staring at him weirdly while he was telling her mistake. By the end of it, Itachi was frowning. He found nothing.

At Itachi's frown, Sasuke whined, "It was her fault Nii-san. She was the one who wasn't looking at the road ahead", trying his best to convince his brother that he was the victim.

"I know ototo. Do you want to learn some exercise for better chakra control?"

"Hai Nii-san!"

Itachi ended up spending his noon teaching Sasuke how to stick a leaf on his forehead.

**~o0o~**

Since that unfortunate meeting with Uchihas, I had stopped going to the bakery. Convincing my mother for letting me stay at home was difficult. She agreed on one condition that someone had to babysit me on days when dad was away.

Just what the fuck woman? I was a grown person mentally, very much capable of taking care of myself. Having someone babysit you was embarrassing!

But since I was a child physically, I had to agree reluctantly. I could do anything to avoid Itachi at this point. My mother hired many civilian caretakers to look after me. But none of them lasted longer than two days. Being a child has its perks. All you gotta do is annoy the hell out of them until they can't take it anymore and leave.

The first babysitter was a boy from the nearby neighborhood. I had added sleeping pills in his tea and went outside to play with Ino. When my mom found out, she fired him herself. The next was a girl, I had broken my mom's favorite vase, blaming the girl for that. She went home crying after receiving mom's wrath. Ino helped me get rid of some babysitters too. Her itching powder was very effective. I had spread it on the toilet seat. The reaction was fast and long-lasting. I always used to clean the seat before mom arrives. I was happy torturing these caretakers until my mom gave up the idea.

But then she hired a genin to do the job.

**~o0o~**

Tokuma Hyuga is a fresh genin. He has shoulder-length, spiky brown hair with two long bangs framing either side of his face and the featureless white eyes inherited by all Hyuga clan members. He wears the Hyuga shinobi uniform complete with a forehead protector in bandanna style.

He has been recently placed in a team with Shisui Uchiha and Naomi Inuzuka. Shisui Uchiha had been promoted to a genin before him and has more field experience than him. But he has no experience working with other team members. Shisui's overly friendly nature annoys him a lot. The way he beat the crap out of him with a smile during spars irks Tokuma. Naomi isn't any better. She is feral and short-tempered. Her canine partner Chisuke shows no mercy in ripping his clothes, barely missing his flesh. Their sensei Muta Aburame keeps on sending his kikaichu that drains his chakra during training.

On top of that, they have to do crappy D-rank missions. They are not even actual missions as they deal with tasks as simple as finding missing pets and weeding a garden. Shisui got to experience the action in his genin days while Tokuma was stuck with these stupid missions. On one such mission, due to frustration, Tokuma uprooted the herbal plants along with weeds without noticing.

The old lady, who was their client, was furious at him. She refused to pay them any single penny. Overall that mission was a failure. Muta Sensei was disappointed. As punishment, he assigned Tokuma another crappy D-rank that he was supposed to do all by himself.

**~o0o~**

Tokuma sighed, taking long strides towards the assigned destination. The mission scroll says he has to babysit some kid for a few hours until her mom arrives. Finding missing pets and weeding garden seem to be more interesting than this now.

He arrived at the given address. It was in the civilian district. The house was modest. It was a two-story house, with two large windows on each side of the door and three windows on the floor above. The house seems to have an attic with a small round window. The front garden has many flowering plants. Tokuma walked over the stone pavement and stood in front of the main door. He knocked softly at the door with his knuckles. Soon he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. The door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman. She smiled and gestured him to come inside.

"Hello ninja-san, I am Mebuki Haruno. Thank you for accepting my request to look after my daughter," The woman said, guiding him towards the living room.

"Hello mam, I am Tokuma Hyuga. Serving the citizens of Konoha is our duty," Internally screaming at Muta sensei for assigning him a boring mission.

"You are very dedicated Tokuma-Kun. Please have a seat, I will get you some tea"

Before Tokuma could refuse, she left the room to fetch tea. Tokuma sat down on the cushion near the low table, examining the interior of the room. The room wasn't cluttered or filled with furniture too much. Most of the furniture was usually low, modern, laconic and there were floor cushions. There were few antic pieces and a couple of indoor plants. The large window provided a decent amount of sunlight in the room. There was a corner table, a family picture was placed on it. He got up and walked up to the table. After examining the photograph, he recognized Mebuki-san, a man standing beside her, probably her husband holding onto a baby in his arm.

"Dammit, am I supposed to look after a baby? I don't wanna be here."

"I am not a baby and I don't want you here either."

Tokuma jumped at the voice and looked at the doorway. A girl with pink hair was standing at the doorway, glaring at him.

Her glare was making him feel uncomfortable. _"C'on Tokuma! She is just a kid, you can handle this,"_ He reassured himself.

"And you call yourself a ninja? You didn't even notice me coming," Sakura mocked him. "Maybe you aren't that capable," She further added smirking at him.

At that moment, Tokuma knew two things. One, he didn't like the kid, not even a tiny bit. Second, her smirk was as annoying as his teammate Shisui and he so wanna wipe it off her face. Before he could say anything, her mother came back with tea. The switch in Sakura's behavior in Mebuki's presence was instant. She was acting like a bashful and timid girl. The smirk was replaced by a shy smile. Sakura wasn't even making full eye contact with him. Tokuma openly gaped at her acting skills.

"Glad you met Sakura already. Please have your tea. I am running a little late so I will talk to you once I return Hyuga-san," Mebuki said, handing him a piece of paper containing his tasks as a babysitter. She then kissed her daughter on the forehead "Be good Sakura, Mommy will come back soon."

"Okay, mommy!" Sakura replied in a happy tone. Tokuma ignored the exchange between mother and daughter. He came here straight after team training. He was tired. Tea will help him relax a little. Once Mebuki left the house, Sakura turned to Tokuma, "Want me to pour some tea for you Nanny-san?"

"Don't call me that! And yes, " twitching at the nickname.

They walked into the living room in relative silence, Tokuma shooting her questioning looks all the while. They sat at the low table, opposite to each other. With a well-practiced gesture, Sakura poured two cups of tea, offering one cup to Tokuma. He silently took the offered cup and waited for Sakura to take a sip first. Sakura took a sip from her cup, totally ignoring his presence.

Once he was sure she wasn't going to trick him, he took a sip cautiously, asking, " Why don't you want me here? Not that I want to do this job. I was forced to."

"Because I don't need a babysitter."

"Well, you are four. You do need one." He scoffed.

"Since when they started giving babysitter job to a Hyuga?" Sakura asked, ignoring his previous statement.

"Babysitting has nothing to do with a clan. It's just a mission. Anyone can do it."

"Then why did you say, you were forced ?"

"It is classified"

Sakura snort at his answer. Tokuma grinned back at her.

"Why did you switch behavior in front of your mother?"

"I don't want her to know that I am responsible for the previous failed babysitting attempts."

"What do you mean?" Tokuma didn't know someone had babysat her and failed. How can someone fail at something so simple?

"Well I pranked them and they left the job"

"I doubt you are capable of doing that with me" He teased her.

She was just a kid, no matter what she did, she can't outdo him. He was the topper of his batch. Best at Taijutsu and chakra control. He has Byakugan. The clan head was proud of him, his cousin Neji look up to him. If he kept working hard, he can kick Shisui's ass someday for sure. He can handle a kid's pranking easily. The sound of the cup hitting the table brought him back from his musing. He watched as Sakura got up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Tokuma asked, also putting his empty cup down on the table.

"Out. You can nap a little until I come back, " Sakura replied while putting the ribbon Ino gave her on her head.

"The task paper said not to let you go outside alone. Wait, I will come with you, " But as soon as he tried to get up, his head spun and he sat back on his cushion. "What the hell?"

"I had coated your cup with sleeping powder. So rest well until I return." Giving him a triumph look, she crossed the doorway.

"You little-," Tokuma was not able to complete the sentence as his head spun again. He clutched his head, he was losing consciousness. "I can't believe I got drugged by a child and here I was thinking to kick Shisui's ass." He can't give up easily. He gotta do something!

"Don't do it! If you left the house without me, I will get in trouble!" He shouted, crawling slowly towards the doorway. He reached in time to see Sakura put on her sandals and was opening the door.

"Nanny-san I am only helping you get some rest, " Sakura said sweetly, exiting the door.

_"Muta-sensei will not let him participate in team training if he failed this one too" _was the last thought running through his mind before he passed out on the doorway.

**~o0o~**

**I am sorry for the late update. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please stay safe and healthy!**


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